|
A Patient Man (2019)
[pensive music plays]
[car horn honks] -[woman] Where is your friend? -Sorry? Your friend. You two always travel together. I don't know. He's probably at home, I guess. He's very nice. He's very funny. Yeah, he is. [somber music plays] [alarm goes off] [soft music plays] [pensive music plays] [PA] The next stop will be 48th Street. [hiss] [PA] Metro center-bound train. [somber music plays] [pensive music plays] Oh, my God! It's so good to see you. It's good to see you, too. [sighs] Let's not have to call HR today, okay? Well, listen, if there's anything you need, you let me know, okay? -Thanks. -I mean it, Tom. Sometimes bad things just happen. There's nothing we can do about that. I'll try to keep that in mind. -Tom, hey. -Hey, George. -Welcome back. -Thanks. Good to see you. Yeah. Rode to work, huh? -Yeah. -Oh, good for you. That's great exercise, huh? -Cardio. -[chuckles] All right, come on. Not much has changed since you've been out. -You know this place. -Yep. Linda just had a cataract removed. -Oh, wow. -Gross. Getting old is the worst. -Oh, Jeff had his baby. -Oh, really? Yeah. A boy. I had forgotten about that. Yeah. Hey, Tom. Hey, good to see you, man. I'm so glad you're back. Sorry about what happened, man. Uh, thanks, Rami. That's nice of you to say. Yeah. Nice bike. Old school. Got it used. Yeah, we got a good one. You might wanna tuck your pants into your socks, though. You'll ruin fewer pants that way. Life hack. -Good tip. -Yeah. -[Tom] Thanks, Rami. -Yeah, yeah. George, I really appreciate you keeping a place here for me. It means a lot. [George] It's the least I could do. Oh, I almost forgot to tell you. Roger is retiring. Oh, really? When? Today's his last day. We're having a thing for him before he leaves. Well, good for him. [George] Yeah, it is. Not great for us, though. He's gonna be hard to replace. I'm sure you'll find somebody. [sighs] [people talking indistinctively] Roger's been emailing me all week about the party. He picked out these hats. Retirement fantasies. He's probably been thinking about this moment for years. This cake is really good. Hey, Rami, have any of your clients worked with the law firm Bauer, Vincent-- Parks, & Smith. Uh, maybe. -Why do you ask? -I'm just curious. Their name popped up on something I was looking into. Oh, yeah, they do a lot of corporate law, got a big international division. Yeah, I actually mentioned them in my blog the other day. I wrote a post about international shipping and-- Customs. Yeah. You read my blog? I got a lot of free time lately. -Oh. -Thanks for the party, Rachel. I-- I really appreciate it. -I hope you are enjoying it. -Oh, I am. -[Roger chuckles] -[Rachel chuckles] -So, any big plans? -[Roger] Yes, actually. My wife and I just bought a little place in Connecticut. Our two boys are both working in New York now, and this way we'll get to spend more time with the grandkids. There's a pond for them to fish in and lots of room for them to run around in. -Sounds really nice, Roger. -[Roger] Thanks. I'm so glad you're back, Tom. We really missed you around here. Thanks. You know, George is looking to promote someone to replace him. Yeah, he mentioned something about that. Yeah, yeah. We've been talking about it. I think I sort of have it locked up. -Nice. -Yeah. [pensive music plays] [beeping] [somber music plays] [car horn honking] [PA] The next stop will be 59th Street. How's it going? Great. [hiss] [PA] Metro center-bound train. Nice helmet. Thanks. You've been riding the train for very long? Actually, no. I'm pretty new to it. -You? -Nah, not too long. I gotta say, I do not care for it. It's not too bad. Beats traffic. [man] It's like a moving DMV. Just another place where people sit and ignore each other. You hate it so much, why do you take the train? I don't know. Actually, that's not true. I do know. I kind of have to. Did you lose a bet or something? Yeah, or something. [PA] The next stop will be Market Street. -Take it easy. -You too. [PA] Metro center-bound train. [hiss] [mysterious music plays] [man] So, May and June are looking pretty good when compared to this time last year, but that doesn't take into account a variety of other factors. Shipping rates are a little higher, but shipping efficiency is way up, which more than counterbalances that. Majority of our clients are actually shipping significantly less product in this time last year, but they're using our services quite a bit more. We're seeing a 17% increase in billing fees for the month of May, and as much as 21% for June. And the difference can be found in a backlog of orders. A lot of our manufacturers are actually expecting an uptick in activity in the next four to six months and they're gearing up accordingly. [George] Sounds good, Jeff. Thanks everyone. Hey, you got a sec? Hey, George. What's up? Well... [sighs] You know we're still looking to replace Roger. Yeah, yeah. How's that going? Fine, I guess. I'm really hoping to move somebody up, promote from within. I think that's a great idea. It could be a real opportunity here for someone. Yeah, sounds like it. It could be a real opportunity for you. I thought Rami had that all locked up. I like to weigh my options some. I think you'd be good at it. You've been here a long time. You worked your way up. You know I think the world of you. Uh, I appreciate it, I really do. Um, I just got back and I feel like I'm just settling in here so-- Maybe the timing isn't perfect, but could be good for you. Could help you put some things behind you. Just think about it. I will. Thank you. That's very nice of you. No, it's selfish really. I'm just hoping you'll stick around for a while. [chuckles] [somber music plays] [alarm goes off] [pensive music plays] [somber music plays] [engine revvs] [car horn honks] And when the windows are rolled up, you don't... smell the garbage. You don't hear the trucks and the yelling. And the creepy guy with the face tattoos doesn't seem as close. I recently started taking the train to work, and having a bike makes it easier. What made you start taking the train? I haven't been inside a car in four months. On purpose? I was in a car accident. It was pretty bad. [therapist] Are you afraid to get back in a car? Something like that, I guess. What do you think will happen if you do? [Tom] Anything could happen. You know, people are constantly making decisions throughout the day. Usually they're low stakes. You know, what shirt am I gonna wear? What am I gonna have for lunch? Right. But on the rare occasion and the time it takes you to realize you've made a poor decision, your life is some new terrible, different life. Are you interested in getting back in a car? [Tom] I don't know. I just don't wanna feel like this anymore. [ambulance siren wailing] [paramedic] Do you know where you are? Do you know how you got this way? What's your name? You're all right. We got you. [crossing bell ringing] Hey, man. Hey, it's you. Yeah, how's it going? It's fine. You see these guys over here? -Yeah. -They're together, right? Together? I don't know. Maybe. Yeah. Look they're standing in a pack. They're basically all wearing the same suit. It's like a uniform. Obviously, these guys know each other. Okay. One of them went through the trouble of organizing some sort of, I don't know, office commuter's situation. [Tom] Right. And they're all just standing around looking at their phones. -What should they be doing? -Chatting. You know, bantering. Giving a personal anecdote. But all they're doing is looking at videos of a guy getting tased. Or a cat with a bow tie. [chuckling] Yeah, sure. I don't know, maybe they don't know each other. Oh, come on, man. We established the suits. I know, but one of them had the bright idea to take the train, and now they have to hang out with people that they're normally paid to hang out with. Where you work, at the end of the day, how many people are you dying to hang out with more? -Not many. -Exactly. Yeah, but, I mean, look around, all right? Everybody's either get their headphones in, or they're on their cell phone. I think they just want a little break, you know? A little time off before they have to go do whatever miserable task they have to do today. But they could be talking to each other. You know, being people, acting like humans. A lot of people on here, you wanna make friends with? Look, humans crave interaction. Standing around a crowd full of people just staring at your hand computer, it doesn't qualify. How about that guy? You wanna be friends with that guy? Yeah, I think he looks nice. Probably checking his stocks. [chuckles] [Tom] Or posting what he had for breakfast on his blog. I guarantee you, most these people, just looking at porn. Early morning train porn. That's pretty terrible. I'm Aaron, by the way. John. Nice to meet you. All right, all right. Just do it, man, just do it. -[buzz] -[man screams] [phone rings] -This is Tom. -[woman] Hey, Tom. Hey, Maya. What's up? So, I finally got Clarke's address. -[Tom] Oh, great. Thank you. -Yeah, it wasn't easy. A lawyer always has a better lawyer than they are, and this Clarke guy is no slouch. Bauer, Vincent, Parks, & Smith is a good get. But your lawyer can beat up his lawyer? [Maya] My lawyer is pushing 70 and is about to lose his foot to diabetes. He's not beating anybody up, but he can take your house pretty easily. -You got a pen? -[Tom] Yeah, got it. [Maya] 1065 Edison Drive. So, what do you want with his home address, anyway? Nothing weird. [Maya] Well, now I definitely think it's something weird. -It's not. -Mm? Why then? [Tom] I just wanna get a better sense of the guy, you know? Find out where he lives, what he's about. All right. Hey, did you get any more information on Belming International? [Maya] Not yet. I'm still looking. [Tom] Okay, thanks. How are you doing? Everything okay? Yeah, yeah. I'm good, you know? I gotta get back to work here, so I'm gonna-- Okay, yeah. I'll see you soon. [Tom] All right, thanks. [taps key] [man on video screams] [Maya] The guy had a lawyer on the scene before the cops even showed up. And the first cop there botched the whole thing completely. He let the lawyer totally take over. Thank you. They can't prove whether he was drunk or high or whatever the fuck he was. He didn't even check to see if you were alive. The first thing he did was call his lawyer. Tom. This guy's gonna walk. [Tom] Narcotics can make the time pass strangely. I was in the hospital for a while, watching that little crappy TV they have, the one that's somehow too loud and muffled at the same time. Watched a lot of Fantasy Island. How long were you in there? [Tom] A month and a half. Then what did you do? Uh, you know, I went home. I watched more TV. Messed around on the internet. You know, stalked people I used to know, looking at pictures of degenerates I went to high school with, checking in with the people at work, seeing how they were doing. [therapist] How's work going? Fine. Same as it was before. What is it you do exactly? I work in logistics for manufacturing companies. So, I move theoretical objects from one spreadsheet to the next. Kind of like pills and television, my job makes the time pass strangely. Is that what you are doing, passing time? [Tom] That's what we're all doing. You know, we look for something just interesting enough to keep our attention until it's time to eat or sleep. I don't think that's how most people would describe their lives. Then most people aren't being honest. Work, TV, exercise, porn. We look for something to mildly struggle against until we get sleepy again. Hmm. So how is your mild struggle going? That's the problem, because for a while there, I almost had it. I was happy. I was content with my life. Before the accident, I had just the right amount of angst for some slight motivation. And now? Just after the accident, all the stuff I enjoyed, the stuff that defined me, it all seems so trivial now. Now I want to do something that holds some kind of meaning for me. Maybe you need to meet some new people. Let's find a hobby, a project. Then don't put so much on it. If you find something you enjoy doing, you'll find meaning. [somber music plays] [alarm goes off] [pensive music plays] [ambulance siren wailing in the distance] Hey, Rami. How's it going? -Good, man. How are you, Tom? -Good. Hey, you ride a bike, right? Uh, yes. I ride a bike. Right. Do you know of any riding groups around town? Yeah, yeah. Riding groups are great. I'm in one. It's called the Night Riders. We ride around only at night. Get it, Night Riders. Yeah, I get it. We meet downtown every Wednesday just right across the city. You should join us sometimes. See if you like it. -That sounds pretty good. -Great. [people talking indistinctively] Hey, hey, hey. Tom, you made it. I'm glad, bud. Right on. -Glad you made it, man. -Yeah. Listen, I think we're about to get started. Just remember you wanna stay close to the pack, okay? Like, safety in numbers. A lot of the drivers get aggro when we come out in full force. So, just have a good time. -Yeah. [pensive music plays] [sighs] [sad music plays] [somber music plays] [ominous music plays] [therapist] You haven't told me much about your wife. -No? -[therapist] No. In fact, you haven't even mentioned her name. Really? I thought I had. No. Uh, Beth. Elizabeth, actually, uh, but, her name was Beth. Would you like to talk about her? Not really. People deal with the loss of a loved one in a lot of ways. There's no one path. At least tell me how you've been dealing with it. I'm just trying to put it past me. Just looking at what is directly in front of me and try not to focus too much on it. You know, distract myself with work, or idle, whatever. You know, a lot of people wanna triage their feelings at first. It's normal to compartmentalize them someplace so that you can get by in the moment. But at some point, everyone has to deal with those feelings. Or what? Or you're miserable. Or you make everyone around you miserable. Or you do something you might regret later. I'm just trying to move on to whatever the next part of my life is gonna be. And what is moving on look like to you? I don't know. I had a wife and now I don't, and there's nothing I can do about that. No, there's not. But there's a lot you can do to accept that reality without being destroyed by it. You're never gonna be okay with what happened, but it can't be a fresh wound every time you think about it. How do I do that? [therapist] It's different for everyone. I mean, some people need to feel that what happened wasn't a random act, a part of something bigger, a greater plan. I'm not exactly religious. Others need to forgive someone, whether that's themselves, or even the person who's gone. Some people need to hold someone responsible. Like a victim of a violent crime going to a parole hearing. That sort of thing. Knowing someone has been held responsible can be helpful for them. You mean someone to blame? [Maya] He's a lawyer at a pretty big firm, Bauer, Vincent, Parks, & Smith. Weird, right? We'll be able to fight a lawsuit with the court in a couple of days. Insurance company will wanna settle, but-- I'm not suing anybody. Why not? Honestly, look at yourself. I have insurance, he has insurance. It was a car accident. -Tom, let me help. -[Tom] I upped my meds. They're starting to kick in so much, I gotta get some sleep, okay? [Aaron] I thought Mr. Roarke was supposed to be immortal, right? I think so. I know he had a bunch of ghost friends and, like, a dead girlfriend that he'd talk to a bunch. I think even the devil showed up in one episode or something. [Aaron chuckles] Remember when they replaced Tattoo with Mr. Belvedere? -[chuckling] No. -Yeah. God, what a weird show. Kind of dark for an island getaway. Sure. Look at this guy. [alarm goes off] [peaceful music plays] How's it going? Getting back into the swing of things? I think so. Yeah. Yeah, making some changes. Wasn't there like a little guy that did a-- There was a frog, did, uh-- Flips. Right. I like that thing. -[chuckles] -You can have it if you want it. No, thanks. I'm all right. So, I was thinking, I'd like to have you and Rami do a couple of presentations. Oh, yeah? [George] I think it might be good for some of the newer guys to see what you two do to keep clients happy. I spoke with Rami already. He's gonna do something on getting time-sensitive material to clients. Sure. [George] And I thought you could do something on the cost side. You know, package buying, shipping routes, a lot of the stuff you were doing before you left. -Okay. -[George] Good. That's great. And I don't wanna put too much pressure on this, but I've narrowed the promotion down to you two guys. -Really? -[George] Yeah. And this presentation is, you know. Yeah. [George] Rami's really worked hard. He's been giving me the full-court press. Truth be told, I don't know that he's the guy and I wanted you to have an opportunity to get full consideration. I appreciate that. You know, I don't really want any special treatment because... No, no. I know. Just kill this presentation, huh? I will. Won't let you down. [somber music plays] [alarm goes off] [sighs] Is it weird that I think I made a new friend recently? No, it's not that weird to make new friends. It's just been a long time since I have made a friend. Not really sure I still know how. What's to know? Well, normally I'm not a big fan of talking to people. The whole thing feels very elementary school to me. You've been through a big change in your life, and you've been distant from other people for a while. It's good to meet new people. I guess so. So, how did you two meet? Just a guy I've been talking to on the train. Does that thing make your hair look funny? No. Why? Does my hair look funny? I don't know what your hair looks like normally. Does it normally look like that? Yeah, probably. Well, then, it's fine. How do you get around on the train without a bike? I walk. -Really? -Yeah. And the mass transit here is pretty bad. I can barely do it with a bike. [Aaron] Ah, it's not that bad. Plus, I mean, I'd-- I'd feel silly riding a bike. You'd rather walk for miles than feel silly? [Aaron] Well, walking's good for you. And I don't want my hair to look funny. Ha. I thought you said my hair didn't look funny. No, no, no. I said I didn't know what your hair looked like normally. Two different things. So what's the deal with you? Why the bike? What do you mean? Well, you don't really strike me as the environmental hippie type. I was in a car accident not too long ago, and it was pretty bad. I didn't really feel like getting back in a car, so I got a bike. -I'm sorry. -Nah, it's fine. How about you? Your story. Oh, no, man. You story is much better. Hmm. Try me. Can't drive. You never learned how? No, no. I know how to drive. I just can't do it responsibly. They took away my license and forced me to ride this thing. What'd you do? Ah, nothing, just-- Just got too many parking tickets. -That's a lot of tickets. -Yeah. Yeah, it was. [somber music plays] [therapist] Why don't you tell me a little more about Beth? Don't really know what to say. Um... She was smart. She was very smart, actually. Certainly, smarter than I am. Are you married? [chuckles] Yes. Happily? I make it a point not to talk about my personal life with patients. Right. We were happy. At least, I think we were. You know, I was happy. We got married pretty young. [sighs] She got pregnant while we were still in school, so I dropped out and got a job, and then we got married. -You have children? -No. Um, she had a miscarriage not long after the wedding. That must have been hard. Yeah, yeah. It was. We got married to start a family, and that didn't happen. But she went back to school, I went back to work. She went on to graduate school, she got two degrees, and then went on to law school. She was smart. She was a lawyer? Yeah. She landed a pretty great job with a fancy law firm. O'Brien, Baxter and Williams. Oh, wow. You know it? Yeah, I've heard of it, actually. -Did any of that bother you? -What? That you didn't finish school. That you had to work while she did. That she went on to be a lawyer. No. I hated school. It wasn't for me. I was proud of her. I was happy to do whatever I thought would make her happy. We gotta go! We're gonna be late! I know. I'm almost done. It's just I know I'm gonna get sat next to some dummy tonight whose only interests are TV shows about other dummies. I can just feel it. I know how you feel about dummies, but this is for charity. We can be miserable together. It's what marriage is all about, right? Yeah. [cell phone ringing] I have to take this. It'll just be a minute. -Hi, hold on. -When did you get a-- I'll just be one second. This isn't a good time. I bet you got it put it together. You got a job. You wear a suit. You married? No. You? Yeah. How's it going? It's all right, I guess. "It's all right, I guess"? Is that what it says on the anniversary card you gave her? No, it's not going as well as I would have hoped. What's the problem? I'm an asshole. And? And it's marriage. And she didn't know I was an asshole. So, she's not that bright? That's nice. Thank you. Look, I don't know, we-- Things get old. We didn't know each other that well going into it, and-- I fucked up. A number of times, and now, I'm-- We're working a thing. Good luck with that. [Rami] Piggyback your shipments. So, what does that mean? What does that mean? Piggyback your shipments. The closer you can fly materials to the site, the faster and cheaper it'll be for your clients. Now, getting components for a complex manufacturing process on time and close to the site, that's a bit of an art form unto itself. But if you can time multiple shipments to multiple clients flying on the same flight to the same hub and delivery route, they'll share the expense, and not know it. Their cost goes down. It's on time, and they think, you're... ...a genius. [all chuckle] I think I really kicked ass on that presentation. Yeah, man. You were good. Yeah, I've been doing some research on the optimum frequency of jokes in the corporate presentation. -How's your presentation going? -Good, good. I'm not gonna have any pig analogies or anything, but it'll be fine. [laughs] Yeah, I don't know where that stuff comes from. It just sort of occurs to me. I took a workshop on Photoshop at a community college, -I think it really paid off. -Good for you, man. Yeah. You ready to go? Definitely gonna be late now. [sighs] I don't wanna go. -What? -I'm not feeling well. And I would like for you to go without me, please. [sighs] I really need you to go, okay? I told George we were both gonna go. Oh, wow. God forbid we let George down. [stutters] What's your problem with George? I thought you liked him. -Well, I'm not going. -Yeah, you are. I said we're going, and we're going. [Beth scoffs] I'm not going to George's stupid fucking charity thing. [Beth sighs] What is happening right now? Nothing. Why were you using a different cell phone? What? You were using a different cell phone just now. It's a phone, it's for work. -You never told me that. -Yes, I did. You wanna go to the thing, let's go to the fucking thing. Come on. [somber music plays] Hey, can I get a beer? Thanks. [sad music plays] [cell phone chimes] [Tom] How long have you been married? I told you we're not going to talk about my personal life. Right. I mean, don't some of your patients find it unsettling that you know so much about them and they don't know anything about you? Do you? -Yeah. -Why? [Tom] For all intents and purposes, you're a stranger. I mean, no one knows all this stuff about me. Didn't you just befriend a stranger on a train? Yeah, and that's just a guy I shoot the chute with on the way to work. I'm not gonna talk to him about my dead wife. Maybe you should. Yeah, well, I'm not going to. Come on, how long have you been married? This is not that hard. Ten years. That's great. What's the average like, eight? Something like that. How long were you and Beth married? Eight years. Does your husband cheat on you? That's totally inappropriate. Well, would you know that if he did? Yes, I'd like to think that I would. Did Beth cheat on you? Yeah. Yeah, she did. [Maya] Tom, listen. I'm sorry, but Beth was having an affair. [exhales] What? She told you that? [Maya] It wasn't my place to tell you. She was my friend. I'm sorry. I really am. F-- For how long? I think it'd been going on for some time. Jesus! I loved her. We had-- We had a whole life together. I know. She told me that she was ending it. She felt terrible. She really did. She loved you, too. Did she say who? [Maya] No, she wouldn't tell me. She just said it was someone that she had known for a while. Fuck. Tom, do you remember Beth going to Rosemont? Someplace up north. Yeah, I guess she had a client up there or something. Belming Industries, -I brought her that client. -Okay. That's where she would go to meet him. She would fake a business trip up there and go see him. Come on, Maya. Why are you telling me this? The guy who hit you and Beth, Clarke. Remember I told you that he worked for Bauer, Vincent, Parks, & Smith? Yeah. Well, BVP&S does a lot of work for Belming Industries. Clarke's firm had the same client. Wait, you're telling me that Beth knew him? [Maya] There's no such thing as a coincidence. Clarke is the guy. Okay, even if he was the guy that she was... ...with, it doesn't prove anything. Well, if he's not going to jail, we can sue the shit out of him. He has to be held accountable. I know. [tense music plays] [Tom] Basically, I have to track how many units of each component they need for all the products they manufacture. Then you have to time the arrival at the exact right time in the manufacturing process to maximize the efficiency. That sounds as boring as all hell. And what I do is really boring. Sure. I mean, it's not fun. Did you go to go to school for that? People go to school to learn how to waste their lives, moving theoretical objects, across columns of arbitrary numbers? Yeah, I think they probably do. Not me. I just needed a job. -What do you do? -I'm a lawyer. Corporate law. I make sure people with insane amounts of money can make more money without anybody knowing about it. -Sounds like fun. -It is not. It's soul-crushing, but it's a living. I bet it is. [somber music plays] [man] Change the transparency of the smaller picture and place it to the right of the original picture. You can find a States seal a bunch of places online or you can just go-- -Hey, man. -Hey, how's it going? -Good. -How's the presentation coming? -Good. -Yeah? What do you got so far? Want me to take a look? Bounce some ideas off me. Right now, it's still preliminary. Um, still getting the numbers in and whatnot. Oh. Well, you know it's next week. I don't think I can push it. You sure you're gonna be ready by then? Yeah, I know. I-- It'll be fine. You know, I'm getting some research in later today, and then I'm just gonna bang it out. Okay, if you say so. Just let me know if you need some help, or feedback, or something. I will. Thanks, George. Yeah. Hey, you got a little stain or something on your shirt there. Thanks. [sad song plays] Bye, honey. Love you. Bye. Good day. You too. [engine starts] [beeping] [Tom] My airbag went off during the accident. I've heard a lot of people complain about, you know, airbags being too powerful. A lot of broken noses after fender benders. Seems like a small price to pay. Yeah, I guess so. Beth's airbag didn't go off. Some cars don't have passenger side airbags. Was it an older car? No, it was only a couple of years old. It had a passenger airbag. It just didn't go off. Something was wrong with it. [PA] The next stop will be Spring State. [beeping] [hissing] [somber music plays] -This is Maya. -Hey, can you do me a favor? [Maya] Yeah, what's up? Can you find out a little more about this guy, Clarke? Sure. Why? [Tom] You're right, it can't be a coincidence. I just wanna know if this is the guy. I thought you didn't wanna sue anyone. Let's just find out a little more about him and we can go from there, okay? -Like what? -[Tom] Whatever you can find. [sighs] Who he is? Where does he go? What does he do? Is he married? Who his wife is? I just wanna get a better idea of the guy. I don't know, maybe his wife should know about him. I just need something to do, I'm bored out of my mind. Get a cat. -[Tom] I hate cats. -[Maya chuckles] Can you just see what you can find out, please? Okay. Yeah, I will. Thanks. [tense music plays] [dialing tone] [Tom] Hello? Hey, George. It's Tom. [George] Tom, holy cow. Hey, how are you, buddy? [Tom] I'm good, thanks. Hey, I was thinking about coming back to work. [George] Oh, wow. Okay. That's great news. Everyone will be really excited to have you back. -When were you thinking? -[Tom] Tomorrow? [George] Oh, um, sure. Great. Do you need anything? You need a ride to the office or something? No, no, thanks. I'm good. [tense music plays] [electric shaver buzzes] [hiss] [PA] The next stop will be Market Street. [beeping] [PA] Westside-bound train. Hey. Hey. What are you doing here? This is my train. I'm heading home. What are you doing here? I'm just going home. I leave work at different times every day, but I'm always on this train. I take this train every single night. You're telling me you're on this train every single night and I haven't seen you once? Yeah, how is that possible? I don't know. It's weird. [chuckling] Yeah. Tell me more about your car accident. [sighs] I was pretty mad when I left the house that day. We both were. Why? What were you angry about? We had just been in an argument. What about? We were supposed to go to this charity event that my boss throws every year, and she didn't wanna go. So why did you? Because it was work, because I was mad, We were getting ready to go, and she was acting weird about something, and then suddenly she didn't wanna go. And I don't know why. What happened next? We got in my car. I made us take my car. Why your car? Why would that matter? [Tom] She hated my car. It embarrassed her. I know it's childish. I've never cared about cars. You know, cheap, reliable, that's fine. But she had to have something expensive. That's another reason to fight, I guess. I knew that the airbag light had been going off for a while-- The passenger airbag and-- You know, I was meaning to fix it, but, you know, I couldn't get it to the mechanic until Monday, and I just wasn't thinking, I was mad. You couldn't have known you were going to be in a car accident. No, but if I hadn't have done that, she'd be alive right now. You didn't know what was going to happen. You were angry, and you were in an accident. It's unfortunate, but those are two different things. Look, I know you've been having a hard time and after finding out about Beth's affair, I'm sure you've been dealing with a few things. Guilt, betrayal. But you loved her, right? Yeah, I did. That's important. And just because Beth was unfaithful, it doesn't mean that she didn't love you. Sometimes people get lost. This was a car accident, and it was terrible, but it wasn't your fault. I made us go. And she didn't want to, and for some reason, I made us go. Let's take my car. No, I wanna drive. -Come on, just get in. -I don't wanna take your car. Look, will you fucking, please, just stop? Just stop arguing. Can we go? [alarm beeps] [car horn honks] -[Tom] Morning. -Morning. Oh, hey. Are you ready? You want me to help you set up? -Set up what? -Your presentation. It starts in an hour. Uh, right. No, I'm good. Thanks. [somber music plays] Uh, sorry, it's gonna be a couple seconds here. If you wanna take one of those, you can. [clears his throat] [clears his throat] Uh, saving your clients' money. Everybody likes that, right? You like that, and they like that. It's what everybody wants. They want to save money on shipping and they want discounts on products and parts. Um... But shipping is expensive because... [clears his throat] ...China is far away And that's what makes the shipping so expensive. China is very far away. Actually, China... They make everything. There's not much we can do about that. But your clients are probably saving money on that cheap labor, right? So, if they wanted to... ...continue to save money, they could outsource some of the manufacturing process or they could invest... ...in robots. Oh, question. Are you suggesting we tell our clients that if they want cheaper shipping, they should fire more people and buy robots? Yes, and hire more foreign workers. Any other questions? Great. Thank you. I've been thinking about buying a car maybe. Really? That's kind of a big step for you, right? Yeah. I've been hanging on to this insurance money and I think it's about time. Wow. So, you are gonna make me have to find someone else to talk to on this thing. What's gonna happen to your helmet? You can borrow it. I don't think I'm gonna stop taking the train. It's kind of grown on me. It'd be nice to have a car to drive every once in a while, though. That's great, man. Good for you. Thanks. Think you'd want to go with me? What, to buy a car? I don't really have anyone else to go with, honestly. Yeah. Yeah, man. I can do that. I mean, I don't wanna put you on the spot. You don't have to. I know it's probably kind of weird. No. I mean, it is super weird, but-- [chuckles] No, I'm happy to go. Thanks. [somber music plays] [printer working] Here, take this. -Can we just walk? -No, no, it's way too far away. Takes forever. Come on, this will be fun. Yeah, fun for you. That's what I mean. This will be fun for me. This all just an elaborate plan to get me to wear your stupid helmet? Yep. All right, hang on. Just take it easy. All right, all right, quit moving. Just-- Oh, God. -[Tom grunting] Okay. -[Aaron] Be careful. -[Tom grunting] Oh, boy. -[Aaron] Ah, this feels great. [Tom] Oh man. [Aaron] Yeah, it's much better than walking. This is great. [Tom] Yeah. Oh, God. All right. Okay, all right, that's it. That's it. Here you are. That was fun, right? No. Here. Hi, there. Anything I can help you two with today? Yeah, I think I wanna buy a car. What you thinking about? Four-door? Automatic? I got a great selection of SUVs. How about that one? That is 10,999. I was hoping to play it closer to nine. Yeah, these are pretty aggressively priced as it is. They're all certified pre-owned. I mean, I can show you-- This is the same car in your website, right? -Oh. -That is the right place? Yeah, that's us. [Aaron] Let's see. That is what the same car is going for around town. -[man] Hmm. -So... Yeah, I was thinking, like, nine. You wanna test drive it or something? -I think I'm good. -He's decisive. All right. -Come on. -That was easy. -She is all yours. -Thank you. [somber music plays] You all right? Yeah. [beeping] [tense music plays] -Hey, Tom. -Hey. Hey, how's it going? -How you feeling? Okay? -Good. Good. I'm glad. Yeah. Listen, Tom, do you, uh, think maybe you came back to work a little too early after your accident? No. What do you mean? [sighing] You're not the same guy. You're just not. Coming in late every day, you leave early. Okay, uh, well the train is unpredictable, you know, it can be late and it's-- it's inconsistent. But I think I figured it out. The past three reports you turned in were a mess. Totally wrong. They-- They didn't make any sense. I had Rami redo them. Clients are complaining. What's going on? I'm having a hard time, okay? I'm preoccupied. It's understandable. You've been through a lot. Why don't you take some more time off? Another month or so. Okay, this is not gonna happen again. I'm gonna call these guys right now, and this is gonna be fine. It's not fine. I can't have it. I-- I knew when you came back, it was too early. Okay, you don't understand, George. I have to work, okay? I have to come here every day. Tom, I'm sorry. Listen, take a vacation or something. -See a shrink. -I'm seeing a shrink. See another one. Look, call me in a month and we'll see where we're at, all right? Yeah. [somber music plays] [sniffs] [car horn honks] [cell phone ringing] [sighs] [sighs] Hello? -Why aren't you at work? -[Tom] Uh... I took a leave of absence. [Maya] I thought you just took one. -Uh, I did. -[Maya] What happened? Why are you taking another leave of absence? I don't know, they told me to take some more time off. [Maya] Why? What did you do? Nothing. Well, you had a job and now you don't. That doesn't happen by itself. I don't know, I need to take care of some things so they gave me some more time off. What's really happening here, Tom? What are you up to? [Tom sighing] What are you talking about? You got me snooping around this guy's life, you wanna know his home address, you wanna know stuff about his wife. I thought we were prepping for a lawsuit. We are. [Maya] Well, this is not how I normally prepare to sue someone. I'm fine, okay? I'm sad. My wife is dead and I'm sad. I'm not crazy. I'm not gonna do anything. I'm just sad. I'm grieving. Are you gonna tell me how to grieve now? No. No. I-- I'm sorry. I'm just trying to help. And I'm sad too. I know you are. And I seem to be the only one to give a shit about you right about now. Beth would want someone to look after you. Maybe-- Maybe you should talk to someone. You mean like a shrink? [Maya] Yeah, like a shrink. I'll think about it. How are you feeling about things? Good. Things are, you know, okay. All right. Would you like to talk about anything today? Yeah. That's refreshing. What's on your mind? You. -We have been over this. -[Tom] I know. I was thinking about what you said. And just because Beth was cheating on me doesn't mean that she didn't love me. And that's probably right. But it also doesn't mean that she necessarily wanted to be with me either. That could be true. I think it is. So, if you lose the person that doesn't wanna be with you, regardless of how it happens, don't you still deserve to be with someone who wants to be with you? Yes, I think that you do. I think so too. I'm still not sure what we're talking about right now. [Tom] I know. [alarm goes off] [somber music] [crossing bell ringing] Hey, you wanna get a drink after work tonight? What, on Wednesday? I just got this promotion and I wanna celebrate. A promotion? That's great! Congratulations! Thanks. It was down to me and this other guy. We had to give this big presentation to audition for it. Sounds like it went pretty well. Yeah, I think it did. Yeah, man. Let's get a drink. Let's celebrate. Great. Your wife won't mind? No, no. I doubt she'll even notice I'm not there. [Tom] All right. So, I'll meet you here at like 8:00 or 8:15 or something? -Yeah, that sounds great, man. -See you then. -See you then. -All right. Bye. [PA] The next stop will be Market Street. [beeping] [PA] Metro center-bound train. [somber music plays] Hi, man. [Aaron chuckles] You're gonna make me ride your handlebars again? No, I actually brought my car. There's a great bar up the corner here. Nice. You're not using this thing much, are you? No, no, not much. I leave it at the office a lot, you know, in case I'm gonna work late or something. Here we go. [exhales] It's Wednesday, right? -To Wednesday. -Yeah. No. -To your promotion. -Thanks. I guess worse comes to worse, we can always take the train home. Or we can pull out my bike, make you ride the handlebars again. No. You know you can get arrested for riding a bike drunk? Really? It's dumb. I can fall off and hurt myself. It's a victimless crime. Yeah, except you'd throw me on an oncoming traffic, cause a 17-car pileup. [Tom chuckles] That would be bad. He seems to be making progress. I think he's starting to find closure with his wife, but... There's some pain there. Finding out after she died that she had been cheating on him was a blow, I'm sure. But there's something else going on, something he's not ready to talk about. Our last session was strange. I don't know, it's like it's not-- it's not her fault. I mean, how long do marriages last these days, anyway? -What, eight years? -Something like that. She works a lot. I work a lot. I don't really think she likes me very much anymore. Did some things I shouldn't have and... ...now I'm paying for it. But you love her, right? Yeah. You wouldn't wanna lose her. You're right. Losing someone is hard. There's a story there. What happened? Was she the one to sit on your handlebars? She died. Oh. Man, I-- I'm so-- God, I am such an asshole. Man, I'm-- I'm-- It's okay, you couldn't have known. No, but still it's not-- I'm-- I'm sorry, man. It was hard, you know, it was sudden. Didn't see it coming. That's just-- that's awful. Are you doing okay? Yeah. It was hard at first, but... I think I'm turning the corner. Yeah. Yeah. You got a promotion, you know, so things are looking up. Yeah, they are. Cheers. -You ready for another one? -Yeah, yeah, sure. [exhales] Two more please. Thanks. Here you go. Oh, how much do I owe you? Don't worry about it. You get the next one. Cheers. [somber music plays] Hey, honey. Yeah, I'm gonna have to work late. Shit, man, I fucked up. It's my fault. The whole thing. I did something terrible. It couldn't have been that bad. [Aaron] You don't know! You don't know what I did. [somber music plays] -Hey, you all right? -[Aaron exhales] I'm wasted-- Why the fuck did I get so wasted? Let's get you out of here before your wife starts to worry. She ain't gonna worry. [somber music plays] [crickets chirping] [somber music plays] [Tom groans] [tense music plays] [pants] Yeah, it's-- It's Aaron Clarke. It's Aaron Clarke. Uh... There's been an accident. I need to-- Uh... I'm in trouble. I need you to get down here right now. No, I need you to get down here right now! Look, I-- I'm in trouble. I'm-- [pants] [tense music plays] [Tom] Beth. Beth. Help! Help! I need help! [crickets chirping] [somber music plays] [Tom] Hey, this is Tom. I can't get to the phone right now. But if you leave a message, I'll get back to you as soon as I can. Thanks. [beep] Tom, hey. Give me a call when you get this. It's important. Clarke's lawyer finally started cooperating some. Belming was never his client. And I checked through the dates Beth was in Rosemont. He wasn't there. Doesn't look like they know each other. I think we got it wrong. [woman] Where is your friend? -I'm sorry? -Your friend. You two always travel together. I don't know, he-- He's probably at home, I guess. [tense music plays] He got a DUI two years ago. He's done pretty well for himself. Two cars paid off, a reasonably-sized mortgage. His wife's a therapist. Like a doctor? [Maya] Yeah, she's a psychiatrist. [Tom] Hmm. Private practice or hospital? [Maya] I don't know. Why do you wanna know about his wife? [Tom] No reason. [somber music plays] [beep] [Beth] George, please stop calling me. I can't do it anymore. He's still my husband and he's still your friend. It's not right. And I still love him, or at least I'm gonna try this time. Goodbye, George, I'm sorry. [tense music plays] -Hey. -Hey. [somber music plays] [solemn music plays] [pensive music plays] |
|